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The Iran thread
If the United States commits to supplying cheap uranium fuel for any civilian nuclear power program, Iran has no leg to stand on. Funnily enough, we've done exactly that and Iran refused. I am baffled by people who twist themselves into pretzels pretending like Iran is interested in anything but nuclear weaponry. That's what they want, and that is why they refuse any compromise. I have not advocated for that standard at all. You will not find a sentence anywhere on the internet where I claim that no countries should have nukes. I have continued to advocate that some countries can absolutely not have nukes. Iran being top of list. I believe Israel is one of the most obvious countries to have nuclear weaponry. They are disproportionately small for their region, and they are disproportionately targeted for extermination. If Israel did not have nukes today I would advocate for giving them nukes tomorrow. The fact that they have had them for decades and have never used them is all the evidence you need that they are not a threat. Yes, I actually do think that's naive. At the end of the day you cannot act on this type of scale without a moral framework, and that is almost definitionally subjective. That is why some of the disagreements are so intractable, because they are fundamentally disagreements about moral ideologies on a global scale. I believe that the United States and Israel governments are, on the balance, moral actors. I believe that the Iranian government is evil. (I also do not believe in God or any sort of supernatural truth, before anybody goes down that rabbit hole.) We are, in fact, always the good guys. You don't become the bad guys just because you do a bad thing if the overall character of your actions is good. That's important, because another non-objective reality of global conflict is that it's different when the good guys do something bad versus when the bad guys do something bad. Intent matters. And the response to the bad action is in fact dependent on the intent. That is fundamental in our justice system. That puts us in exactly the position to tell other countries they can or can't have nukes. I do not think for one second that you hate your country.
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The Iran thread
Well under the JCPOA we had a regular inspection regimen, Iranian enrichment limited to ~3%, and up until Trump tossed it in 2018, the IAEA said Iran was operating within the bounds of the agreement. Part of my frustration with this war (and broader Iran strategy in general) is we keep blowing up the status quo, getting into a much worse situation, and then going “gee it sure would be nice to get back to the status quo we just had.” But the whole reason I brought up the civilian program in Iran is because Israel says it’s a no go for them. This is a big problem for two reasons. 1) it’s pretty unsat that Israel has secret nukes, didn’t sign the NPT, and now is trying to dictate the terms of another country’s nuclear program. We wouldn’t tolerate that behavior from literally anyone else. 2) the bigger problem is the “no enrichment” Israel wants so badly is a total poison pill for Iran as far as making a deal. So yet again, we have our intransigent welfare baby country dictating the terms of the war we’re fighting on their behalf. Not great. And It’s becoming increasingly evident Trump (to his credit) wants to find a way out of this thing while Israel seems to want anything but. Bibi knows he absolutely has the ability to stir the pot whenever he wants to bait an Iranian response, and then by default we’re dragged back into hostilities. No one said they’re deserving of nukes. I just don’t think Israel has the right to lecture anyone about nukes, and by extension we don’t either because we’re BFFs with a state that has them in secret and won’t sign the non-proliferation treaty. That’s not a tortured view of morality. That’s an objective standard. The standard is: nuclear proliferation is bad no matter if it’s Israel or Iran who does it. Maybe it’s naive of me but I try to look for objective standards like this to define my political stances. Sometimes it requires zooming out and looking at our actions from an international frame of reference. And yes, sometimes that does lead to some pretty uncomfy conclusions. Like: not every conflict is as simple as good vs evil, and sometimes we might not even be the good guys. And none of that is to say I hate my country or I’m rooting for failure or I think we’re always in the wrong. I just want us to do things that aren’t insanely dumb, and if we can sometimes throw in the added benefit of it not being morally backwards or hypocritical, that would be cool too.
- Today
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The Iran thread
@Pooter Yes many countries have nukes, but none of those countries are the #1 purveyor of terror. None of them have been complicit in the deaths of thousands of Americans, not to mention thousands more of other westerners. Civilian nuclear power, sure, but weapons are a hard no. Iran can easily solve this - build nuclear power facilities above ground and allow for a limited number of no-notice inspections (say, max of 2 per year).
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GA Aircraft Flown
Selling my 1979 A185F if anyone is looking for a great performer with the IO-550 and 88” Prop. STOL kit, Wing Extensions, VGs, etc.
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GA Aircraft Flown
Often flew a friend’s in the late 70s out of Woodring, OK. Wife (pilot) and I flew a two week XC from Enid, OK to OR to NV to AZ to TX and back to OK. Performed well at Hi Density and with full fuel in the Rockies. Climbed comfortably to 14-16k and flew IMC at times. Always felt comfortable in it Anyway, flown many other BOs. But for a couple with two small children it is a great performer.
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The Next President is...
Yeah, just another moderate Democrat sprinting to grab the flag of moderation on a bunch of issues only after they have been settled in the court of public opinion. Where was he 2 years ago when the trans issue was burning brightly and parents were mobbing school board meetings to stamp out the ideology from their schools? Where was he when the teachers unions were keeping schools closed during covid, resulting in those math and reading scores? Where was he when Latinx wasn't the punch line of a joke but another crazy attempt to cram fake racism into every corporate budget? If he has a recent interview talking about the evils of Hamas or how the Whitehouse Ballroom project isn't fascism, maybe he's the guy. But as far as I know the only prominent Democrat in the entire country that isn't blowing in the wind of progressive ideology is Fetterman. I definitely would have lost the bet if you told me that the most rational consistent politician in Washington would be the guy recovering from a stroke. 🤣😂 I'm waiting for after Trump's presidency ends, for Democrats to suddenly realize the value of overturning Roe v Wade. Anyone notice how absent abortion is from the national discourse since that ruling?
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The Iran thread
That's pretty much everything we need to know about your position. This is exactly the Obama/Mandami/Sanders position. Call it power-guilt or whatever, but it takes an absolutely tortured view of morality, statecraft, and human nature to find the Iranian regime (both the old Mullah-led regime and the current IRGC-led regime) somehow deserving of nukes because of the most unintelligent interpretation of US and Israeli histories. It's been fascinating to watch conspiracy-susceptible (and attention whoring) conservatives like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens fall into this rabbit hole and become indistinguishable from the progressive politicians they became famous by attacking.
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The Next President is...
Former Obama Chief of Staff clearly describes the self-emolument of the DNC. SnapInsta.to_AQO7GAc5KKmFfOMYo6mYq6VBNn2cRMqnTW_dfBtpgJpC1h2qIzZ6pKxLmCbAUns-A5gdw7Blmgda76Nm3xQUNO1zeO7lRrrMevPXN-c.mp4
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Florida King Air Crash off the coast of Florida all 11 rescued
Did anyone see the events around the King Air that crashed (ditched), 80 miles offshore? Sounds like a movie in the making as they ditched and all 11 people on board survived and were rescued by the Coast Guard and the 920th. Everyone surviving a ditching then being rescued...Well done
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GA Aircraft Flown
I think @EvilEagle owned a Bonanza, not sure if it was an FSSA or an A36, very similar as I understand.
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The Failed Liberal State of California
Reading the financials California has a $29B deficit as of January that is projected to grow to $35B next year. The deficit, driven by high spending and lower-than-anticipated revenue (shocking result as people and businesses leave). While I do applaud that as of Jan of 26, undocumented adults who are not already enrolled can no longer apply for full-scope Medi-Cal, they have a new proposal to provide full scope dental care to illegals for FREE. Do the rest of Cali citizens get free dental?
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The Iran thread
Just to reattack on this, yes we all agree Iran having a nuke is a thing we don’t want. Is it something I’m willing to go to WW3 over? No, not particularly. North Korea got a nuke and the world kept turning. Pakistan and India have nukes pointed at each other as next door neighbors. Russia, and China have nukes. The world kept spinning. Iran is a pariah yes but their regime is also interested in self preservation, so I don’t think they just magically go suicidal the second they get a nuke. They want it as a deterrent just like everyone else. The other interesting question is whether people think Iran has a right to a civilian nuclear program. I think yes mainly because the NPT we are signatories on grants that right to all countries. Civilian development is bounded by IAEA limits which Iran has violated before, so their hands aren’t clean here either. You don’t build facilities under a mountain to make medical isotopes. Or maybe you do if you think some assholes are gonna keep trying to bomb you. Regardless, they’ve broken the rules and the one serious effort to rein them in (the JCPOA) which was working by the way.. is now in the shredder. But most interestingly, civilian development in Iran is a bright red line for Israel. This is particularly rich because Israel aren’t signatories on the NPT and are well known to have unacknowledged nuclear weapons.
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The Iran thread
I can see that. Two reasons: The media at large wants to paint anything Trump does as a failure. So, every American is bombarded with bullshit, half truths, and the legit info is typically suppressed significantly - it takes real effort to find it. For example, here’s a good example of clearly defined objectives (at unclass level): https://gulfnews.com/world/mena/trumps-4-objectives-in-iran-explained-1.500461406 Bottom line, the objectives have been pretty clear and not nebulous, but they also have been severely suppressed and therefore it makes sense that they seem non-existent/nebulous to a large portion of the population. Trump says all kinds of wild comments coming from left field that may or may not be true/fully accurate. He does this on purpose a lot - debatable how much it helps vs hurts his goals. So he is certainly a PCF to making it all seem nebulous at times when, in fact, it’s not nebulous at all. Bottom line, the admin could do better at clearer messaging, but it’s also hard to get clear messaging out when the “middle man” is doing everything possible to suppress or misconstrue that messaging.
- The Iran thread
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T-38 Down in AL, Pilots Safe
Glad they got out. Air & Space Forces MagazineT-38 Crashes in Alabama, Two Pilots Eject SafelyA U.S. Air Force T-38 training jet crashed in Alabama on May 12, after its two pilots ejected safely following a mishap.
- The Iran thread
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GA Aircraft Flown
Anyone here have any experience owning/flying a Bonanza F33A?
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The Iran thread
For the record: I was banned from the forum by Helodude for responding to personal attacks after multiple users refused to engage with sourced arguments. I'd invite anyone reading to scroll back and judge whether the tone of my posts was meaningfully different from what CH, LR, brabus, M2, and others post regularly without consequence. M2 liking DFRESH's reminder to the forum is a nice touch, given that personal attacks, or unsourced, baseless statements are a regular feature of his contributions here. M2, name one politician or member of this forum, any person that matters that ever said Iran should have nuclear weapons? Not "criticized the strategy," not "questioned the outcomes," not "doubted the rationale." Said Iran should have nukes. I'll wait. What people are actually frustrated with is an administration that can't keep its story straight. In June 2025, the program was "completely and totally obliterated." By November, the White House's own document downgraded that to "significantly degraded." In February, Witkoff said Iran was "a week away from industrial-grade bomb-making material." Days later, Trump said Iran could "soon" hit the American homeland with missiles, when the DIA's own assessment says 2035 at the earliest. Then we launched Operation Epic Fury, and Gabbard told the Senate the program had been obliterated again, while refusing to confirm it had been an imminent threat. The Director of the National Counterterrorism Center resigned over it. That's not one position. That's five, in twelve months, depending on what needed justifying that day. Pointing that out isn't advocating for a nuclear Iran. It's asking the administration to pick a story and stick to it. But sure, use an internet meme and stick to a strawman, false equivalence, and false dilemma with the 2A.
- Yesterday
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2027 ACTIVE DUTY UFT BOARD
Hi! First time applying, current RPA pilot. 96 PCSM 90 AFOQT Pilot 50 Flight hours No PPL Not sure about squadron or wing ranking lol Flight Lead Upgrade, Mission Commander, >600 combat hours in the MQ-9. Pilot of the quarter award. Did a joint exercise VF/Bamboo Eagle last year. No leadership experience as that's more set at the Flt/CC level, and I'm still a 1LT. Will be frequenting this forum as the application process goes on this year. Good luck to us all!!!
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ACSC in the Guard
*AFRC may be different, but this is from the perspective of a career ANG DSG who lived in base for both gigs. My old boss is the current 4-star Chief of the NGB, a member of the joint chiefs of staff, and he did ACSC and AWC by correspondence (SOS in-res). A squadron mate just put on a Star to work at the state level (via indispensability...woof) and I don't think he did in-residence for anything. We've had multiple pilots on various staff gigs in Hawaii, Europe and NGB and none of them did ACSC or AWC in residence. In the 20+ years I was in my ANG wing, I can't think of anyone who has been leadership in my wing, who did ACSC or AWC in-residence. The sky is the limit and in-residence likely won't change that. About the only thing I can think that in-res is good for, is that I believe it doesn't count toward your 5-years of USERRA time. So many questions that need answered to provide anything meaningful. Do you live in base for your airline gig, your mil gig or both? How far away from your 20? How old are you? How much pain are you willing to suffer just to get that 20 year pension (I say suffer because I did not enjoy full time work in the military...too much desk time)? Will your airline allow you to sneak past the 5 year point, will you be in a job that can be given a USERRA waiver? Also, best case scenario, if you can even sneak past the 5 year USERRA to get your AGR retirement, what age would you draw that vs a DSG retirement (I'm getting my DSG retirement at 57, I know others getting it at 55)? Is the lost pay at the airline worth that to you? Does momma want to be drug along to more moves while you chase these assignments? Kids? It sounds like momma wants to get settled into a forever home. For me, that would be priority #1 because if she ain't happy, it's likely you won't be either. From that viewpoint is where I'd make all future decisions. I'm a big proponent of just going DSG and flying full time at the airline. Maybe take the occasional set staff orders to Hawaii/Europe on times of your own choosing if Momma is onboard. Then again, I was always much happier as a DSG and insanely happier now that I'm out and have more free time than I know what to do with...good problem to have.
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The Iran thread
Call me crazy but idk what domestic gun rights of US citizens has to do with military development going on in a country on the other side of the world. (Also for the umpteenth time, our intel community assessed they weren’t making a nuke) A better quote of the day might be: Imagine being the only country who has ever used nukes, allied with a country who has secret nukes, and thinking you’re in a position to lecture anyone else about nukes
- The Iran thread
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The Next President is...
It’s at his own golf course. If you buy your own golf course, you can put up a statue of yourself as well…Fuckin calm your tits.
- Last week
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The Iran thread
This seems very very pedantic but sure I’ll use your terms in the spirit of friendly debate. I have googled it and traffic through the strait has been reduced by 95% plus. In any other context a 95% degradation of something would be considered kaput. Your car’s gas tank is 95% empty.. that’s empty. Your home air conditioning is pumping out 5% of the cold air it normally does.. your AC is broke. Your son only mows 5% of the yard.. hey buddy you didn’t mow the yard like I told you to. To the rest of your comment I noticed you used the word “nebulous” a lot. And I actually think it’s a perfect description of what’s going on. Maybe the reason we can’t agree on basic facts isn’t a problem of either of us but it’s because the war goals have been so nebulous no one is even sure what the desired end state is supposed to be. We have Trump proclaiming the war is over a few days back and then Bibi goes on the news and says the work isn’t done and we still have to get the nuclear material, more missile sites etc… And since our support for Israel is clearly limitless I’ll defer to the guy who I think is actually calling the shots (Bibi) and will assume this thing is far from over
- The Iran thread